After leaving the village, Li Wan was restless.
Back at the Jingzhao Prefecture government office, Li Wan said to Zhui Feng, "His Majesty has ordered me to keep an eye on Tie Zhu. I'll trouble Guard Zhui Feng."
Zhui Feng said indifferently, "It is my duty. Then I will hand Tie Zhu over to Lord Li." After saying that, Zhui Feng was about to leave.
Li Wan said, "Let me escort you!"
Zhui Feng replied, "No need." With that, he used his light-footed skill to leap over the courtyard wall.
Li Wan was surprised by Zhui Feng's martial arts skills, but having served as an official for so long and seen so much of the world, he quickly regained his composure and pointed at Tie Zhu, saying to the clerk, "Put him in jail for now."
Three days later, a group of people arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture government office, led by Prince Yong, Ortai.
It turns out that the third person the Emperor mentioned earlier was Guan Bin. When Zhui Feng and the others arrived in the capital, Guan Bin had already been imprisoned in a prison cart by Ortai and was being transported to the capital.
All the way, Guan Bin pondered why the Emperor had sent people to arrest him. After much thought, he figured it was probably because the matter in Geshan Village had been exposed. Could it be that something had happened to the Prince? However, he had not yet received instructions from the Duke of Yingguo, so he was unsure of the situation in the capital and didn't know what to say.
Upon arriving in the capital, Ortai, following the emperor's previous orders, took Guan Bin directly to the Jingzhao Prefecture government office.
Guan Bin was led to the main hall by the guards. Li Wan slammed the gavel and asked, "Is the person below Guan Bin, the Prefect of Kaifeng?"
Guan Bin raised his head and said, "This humble official is indeed Guan Bin."
"Do you know why we arrested you?" Li Wan continued to ask.
"I didn't know! I'm truly innocent!" Guan Bin pleaded.
Li Wan snorted coldly: "You still say you're innocent? Let me ask you, what's going on with the drought in Geshan Village, which is under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture?"
Guan Bin was startled, thinking that things had been exposed! But he still pretended not to know and said, "Geshan Village did suffer from a drought, but under the leadership of Prince, Kaifeng Prefecture has sent grain there, and everything is fine now."
“It’s nothing! Then why would someone come to the capital to complain that you and Prince conspired to deliberately stop the distribution of grain to Geshan Village, and even sent soldiers to block the village entrance, thereby exacerbating the disaster, harming the people, and deceiving the emperor!” Li Wan said.
Guan Bin never expected that someone would come to the capital to file a complaint. Who was so bold? If he escaped this time, he would make sure that person died a horrible death.
Guan Bin cried out that he was innocent, saying that he and the Prince had not stopped distributing grain to Geshan Village, let alone had anyone guard the village entrance. Guan Bin knew that if he told the truth now, he might be able to save himself, but he was not sure how much the Emperor knew. If he said something he shouldn't have, then the Prince and the Eighth Prince would not let him off the hook.
Since he was going to die anyway, he might as well grit his teeth and fight to the bitter end. He wouldn't admit it, and they couldn't do anything to him since they had no evidence. Guan Bin made up his mind that no matter what Li Wan asked him, he would only claim that he was innocent!
Seeing that he wouldn't speak, Li Wan became anxious. She picked up the warrant for the flogging and said to the bailiffs on either side, "Flog him until he tells you!"
The bailiffs came up and gave Guan Bin several heavy blows. Although Guan Bin was in excruciating pain and begged for mercy repeatedly, he still insisted that he was innocent and that he and the Prince had not done anything to Geshan Village.
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